What is Co-IRIS?

About Co-IRIS

IR as a field is not a unilateral project rather it is an intellectual platform. The aim of Co-IRIS is to explore Islamic contributions to the field. The inclusion of Muslim contributions is not meant to create an isolationist, judicious divide between what is Islamic and what is not. Co-IRIS is created to act on the inclusion of that knowledge as a building bloc in the IR field.

Co-IRIS is premised on the idea that knowledge is fluid: peoples adopt and utilize thoughts and ideas regardless of faith, gender, nation, etc. The mainstream idea that all knowledge presented by the West is from an “Orientalist” perspective or that there is a “clash of civilizations” are both notions that are antithetical to our mission.

It is created by a group of researchers interested in developing and sustaining a body of knowledge that addresses the theories and practices of the Muslim civilization and of Muslim societies with regards to international affairs and to the discipline of International Relations.

History of Co-IRIS

Co-IRIS was previously known as IR-IS Research Cohort. IR-IS Research Cohort was created by Nassef Manabilang Adiong on December 29, 2012 through various social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+. His blog/website and twitter served as temporary e-places where he formulated his thoughts and disseminated information.

It was his aspiration to introduce Islamic contributions to the field of IR because he observed a tremendous non-recognition of Islamic scholars’ theories and practices of international relations among IR scholars, particularly in the West. His dream is to find shared values and mutual understanding between IR and IS.

Until he found avenues and academic tools as starting point to gradually materialize his aspirations, he was able to edit a book, create a section conference, and organize meetings with people who have similar passion and interests.

Firstly, through exchanges of correspondence with Dr. Raffaele Mauriello and Dr. Deina Abdelkader and, later, a meeting in Rapallo (Italy) from October 30 to November 02 held as part of the annual Exploratory Symposia organized by the European International Studies Association, Co-IRIS was born.

The mission-vision of Co-IRIS is to achieve the goals stated below

Short-term goals:
– Introduce Co-IRIS to institutions, think-tanks, and prominent scholars.
– Gather interested people to exchange research notes and share experiences.
– Survey review of related literature.
– Develop working concepts and frameworks of studying the subject matter.
– Present papers, panels, and sections to international conferences.
– Maintaining a dedicated website with profiles of all interested people, news, and research agenda.

Medium-term goals:
– Establishing a university or research center headquarter that will sustain Co-IRIS.
– Solicit funding via donations or volunteered contributions.
– Organize Co-IRIS annual international conference, seminars, and workshops.
– Establish an e-magazine on current affairs.

Long-term goals:
– Establish e-branches and linkages to several institutes and universities in different countries.
– Provide financial research grants and scholarships to fellow members primarily to (post/undergraduate) students and early career academicians.
– Establish an academic journal.
– Building up IR-IS as a form of research agenda through developed paradigms and methodologies.